The growth of the gaming industry, in particular, gambling casinos has been very significant over the last decade. The industry has come to recognize the need for new games and new gambling concepts. It also recognizes that the new technologies available need to be integrated in order to improve their gaming environment. It also recognizes the need to become a more efficient gaming provider.
The state gaming control boards of Nevada and New Jersey (which have traditionally been slow to approve any new games or gambling concepts) have changed their philosophy so dramatically that today they actively encourage the trial and acceptance of new games and gambling concepts. The problem with introducing new games has always been the basic criteria for mass-market gambling:
Easy-to-learn game rules. PA1 Strategies must be easy to master and not favor "the expert" disproportionately. PA1 Games must have a short duration between the start (the bet) and the finish (the payoff). PA1 The payoff structure, that is, what can be won by a lucky player must be enticing. PA1 The game must be fair, that is, the casino should not have an unreasonable advantage. PA1 The game must be "secure", that is, protected from cheating and tampering. PA1 The casino's "win" must be demonstrated to be worthwhile., that is, the "win per machine per month" must at least compare favorably to that of the "slots". PA1 Nightclub Entertainment PA1 Restaurants PA1 Transportation PA1 Refreshments PA1 Credit Card Verification PA1 When a blackjack dealer shuffles the decks of cards--the players at his table are "down" PA1 When a player looks for a table to play, in the game and for the stakes he wants, he is "down" PA1 When a player changes the game he his playing and has to walk to another location. PA1 When a player wishes to bet on a sports event or see the results of a sports bet wager, he is "down" until he returns. PA1 When a player is intimidated from playing because of smoking or card professionals.
Over the years, there have been many different types of games that have attempted to satisfy the demands of the gaming industry. These games have ranged the gamut from those involving great mental prowess to games involving is merely chance. Nevertheless, there is still a strong interest in game concepts that create real excitement.
More specifically, with many games the players are placed in the position of passive observers. This is actually most true of the more expensive games that employ electronic components and the like which may or may not involve any skill on the part of the player. Still further, the game development or play is almost always viewed as unrealistic (e.g., only involving luck) at best.
Because of this fact, such expensive games are often difficult to market and discarded after minimal play even when purchased by the consumer. Moreover, even when use continues, such games have consistently lacked any relationship to the excitement as well as the strategy and planning that should be the characteristic of any game. While it is generally recognized that decision making in game play is of paramount importance, there has yet to be a game that places players in a realistic decision making capacity.
One game of interest over the years is poker. Various attempts have been made to enhance play of poker over the years. Examples of such attempts are described in the following U.S. patent references, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,022, Wood, second chance poker method; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,134, Suttle et al., electronic five card poker game where cards are given to the players one at a time; U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,049, Tomaszewski, five card poker game where up to two cards are drawn; U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,109, Gumina, instant poker game card; U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,915, Miller, six card, two hand video poker game; U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,128, Marouez, six cards, three hand poker game; U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025, Sklansky et al., three hands, two card poker game where each player chooses one hand and five communal cards are dealt face up; U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,199, Gumina, interactive video/casino poker game-drawpoker, hold'em poker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,404, Joshi et al., multiplay video poker game in which the player's sub-hands are compensated to increase the payoff level of the winning hands; U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,407, Hofberg et al., casino poker game.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,451 to Fulton involves a modified poker game where the player is dealt pairs of cards, where one card is optional and the other mandatory. The player is permitted to exchange at each round the optional card until five cards are selected. The resulting five card hand is then evaluated for payoff against a fairly standard payoff table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,194 to Wolf deals the player seven cards. The player then forms two hands: a five card hand (e.g., a front hand), and a two card hand (e.g., a back hand). The rules for playing this game are quite elaborate, including requiring each player to arrange the hand so that the rank of the back hand is greater than the rank of the front hand.
Unfortunately, all these prior art attempts at making poker interesting and challenging have not been successful. That is, the prior art has been unable to successfully provide a poker game that combines the attributes of skill, luck, excitement and simplicity with rapid play. For example, none of the prior art references cited above relate to dealing a player two exposed cards each round from which the player selects one card and discards the other card, or builds two simultaneous five card hands. Further, none of the above prior art references relate to building a poker-type hand one card at a time, at the selection/control of the player.
In addition, what has also not been seen is a new platform to stimulate the development of new games and gambling concepts, such as poker. An interactive network also beneficially provides an open platform for any game developer to create new games and gaming concepts. The casino can offer these new games without installing additional hardware, since they will be playable from any touch screen on the interactive network. Further, an interactive network can, if properly designed, provide exciting tournament competition that cannot be implemented in other settings. Thus, the poker game can be greatly enhanced by providing this tournament setting.
Casinos provide other services to the player beyond gaming, examples:
The interactive network allows for direct interfacing from the players touch screen to any of these services. In addition, it is an open platform to any new electronic services that may become available.
The concept of casino "downtime" is a major management efficiency problem. Whenever players are not gambling they are "down", examples:
The interactive network can shuffle and deal in fractions of a second. A player can find his game, at his stakes, by calling up (by touch) a menu of games available. A player can "window" to sports betting while still participating in another wagering event. The interactive network makes the player anonymous and safe from smoke and card sharks. No known devices have the means to create a "dynamic" interactive network of tournaments where participants compete electronically and where there is no limit to an individual tournament size and therefore no limit to the size of the jackpot. In addition, no known electronic gaming devices have been programmed to play a game which meets all the gaming criteria listed above and allows for any sort of interactive network.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a modified poker game that provides a player the opportunity to exercise their skill. It is also desirable to provide a modified poker game that includes luck to make the game exciting, unpredictable and enjoyable for people of all levels of intelligence.
It is further desirable to provide a modified poker game that has simple rules so that new players may learn the game easily, including learning the appropriate strategy for the game.
It is also desirable to provide a modified poker game that can be played rapidly so that multiple games can be played between two or more players in a short period of time.
It is also desirable to provide a modified poker game that can be played between two players, or multiple players in a tournament manner.
It is further desirable to provide a modified poker game that incorporates the feature of providing bets of varying amounts the game value to further enhance the excitement of the game.
It is further desirable to provide an interactive network architecture to provide a tournament competition for the modified poker game, as well as providing a tournament structure/framework for other games.
It is further desirable to provide an interactive network architecture to provide a tournament competition for the modified poker game, as well as providing simultaneously a local or individual game that is played by the player.